Ben-Yitzhak Brothers: 888 Founders

Shay and Ron Yitzhak are one of the two sets of brothers who
founded 888 Holdings, which is responsible for the development
of several thriving online casinos. Shay's software writing
abilities and Ron's background in gambling highly contributed to
the early success of the company.

888 Holdings wouldn't be the booming multi-million dollar
corporation it is today without the help of the Ben-Yitzhak
brothers. Their intelligence, their creativity, and their
willingness to take a risk for the company is what made it
thrive.

Shay's Contributions to 888

Shay attended and graduated from the Israel Institute of
Technology with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science. He
worked as a software developer for a plethora of different
companies including CIBAM Technologies Limited and Tower
Semi-Conductor Limited.

Shay and his brother were approached by the Shaked brothers
for an opportunity of a lifetime to join them as they made one
of the world's first online casinos. Shay was hesitant of the
idea at first, but with the persuasion of his brother, he
decided the risk was worth the potential rewards that the
partnership had to offer.

Shay played a very important role within the company, as it
was his responsibility to write the software used during the
company's early years, despite a limited knowledge of gambling.
He used what he learned from his previous work experiences and
with the aid of his brother, he was able to implement unique
software that had an easy-to-use interface and enhanced
graphics.

As the company expanded, Shay became the Chief Technical
Officer, meaning he dealt with all of the technological problems
the company faced. Under this position, he was in charge of the
research and development center the company opened in 1998,
called Random Logic Limited, which was located in Tel Aviv,
Israel.

Ron's Contributions to 888

Ron is essentially the only one of the four founding members
that really understood and enjoyed gambling at casinos. He would
spend a great deal of time at the casinos in Israel, learning
the different games and trying his luck at the tables. It was
never mentioned that he ever made a significant amount of money
from this, but it did cause him to cross paths with the Shaked
brothers.

After Ron and his brother were approached by the Shaked
brothers with their revolutionary idea of an online virtual
casino, it was Ron that had to convince his brother to join the
group, which wasn't an easy task as they had to remortgage their
homes in order to have the necessary funds to get the business
off the ground. Ron, Shay, and the Shaked brothers all took a
huge leap of faith as they started what would later be known as
888 Holdings.

In May of 1997, the company launched its first casino,
Casino-on-Net, which definitely sparked people's interest in
their company and even provided them with a decent amount of
loyal customers. Ron and the others were ecstatic and very
anxious to see where the company might end up.

In 2002, they launched their second online casino, Reef Club
Casino, which was an expansion of their first site, including
even more games that Ron was able to master and explain to his
brother so that he could write the software for them.

Moving on from 888: The Ben- Yitzhak Brother

After the United States announced the Unlawful Internet
Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which prohibited US customers
from completing transactions with gambling sites, 888 closed
their doors to US customers all together.

The following year, upon Ron's request, the brothers decided
that they were going to sell a substantial amount of their
shares of the company. Together they owned 57.5 million shares
and they decided to sell 13.6 million shares of that for a total
profit of $31 million. Through the process of this deal, they
went from owning 17% of the company to only having 11% of it.
Ron left the company for good soon after that, taking his half
of the shares and retiring so that he could spend more time with
his family.

Shay deciding to stay with the company a little longer, but
he stepped down to become a non-executive member of the board.
He would still attend board meetings and was able to voice his
highly-respected opinion, but he didn't have any direct
authority over the decisions that were made. In 2010, he left
the company for good so that he could spend more time with his
family.

After his retirement, 888.com chairman Richard Kilsby said,
"I would like to express on behalf of the board and all at the
company our appreciation of Shay's contribution as one of the
original founders of the business, and in growing the company
from its infancy to where it is now. We wish him all the best
for the future."